Internal-combustion turbine



Jan. 23, 1923. 1,442,876

E. B. HARTMAN. INTERNAL COMBUSTION TURBINE.

FILED J m 20, 1920. 3 SHEETSSHEET I LOWPRESSIME WATER SUPPLY .45 war/1mm1% AIR 221m:

/ @FRESS RE WTER PUMP FUEL 01L PUMP N I N TURBINE. 1920.

E. B. HARTMA lNTERNAL USTIO FILED 20 Jan. 23, 1923.

3 SHEETS'SHEET 2 Jan. 23, 1923.

E. B. HARTMAN |NTERNAL COMBUSTION TURBINE.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 Fl LED JAN. 20. 1920.

INWZZVJUR.

Patented Jan. I 23, 1923.

[TED STTE sic.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION TURBINE.

Application filed January 20, 1920. Serial No. 352,680.

To (1/ 1.0/1 0m 1' 2 may concern 7 Be it known that I, Ennis l3.llARTMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New London,county of New London, and State of Connecticut, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements .in Internal- (oinbust-ion Turbines, ofwhich the follow ing is a specification, the particular novel featuresof my invention being more fully pointed out in the annexed claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in'which Figure1 is a. longitudinal vertical section through the turbine.

Figure 2 is a face view of the tilting block in the direction of thearrow 2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section through the turbine on the line 3-3 inFigure 1 seen in the direction of the arrows.

Figure lis a transverse section through the turbine on the line 4-4 inFigure 1 seen in the direction of the arrows 44, and

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the same line on which the sectionFigure 4 is taken but seen in the direction of the arrows 55.

This invention relates in general to that class of internal combustionprime movers in which the combustible mixture of fuel and air issuitably ignited, and in which the expanding combustion gases areconducted through turbine nozzles against the blades or buckets of aturbine to operate in a manner similar to that in which steam turbinesare operated.

The particular novel features of my invention relate to the manner inwhich the combustion air is compressed by a separate compressor, and inwhich the fuel is subsequently injected into the compressed air ina'separate compartment.

Moreover, they relate to the injection of water into a chest heated bythe combustion of the mixture, from which chest the steam passes intothe ducts by which the combustion gases are led to the turbine in whichducts it mixes with these gases.

Further, my invention relates to suitable 111621118 for adjusting thecompression of air to adapt the turbine to various kinds of fuel.

Referring to Figure 1. the turbine consists of two main casings, casing2 which con tains the turbine wheel proper, to be referred tohereinafter, and casing portions 1, 1 and 1 which contain the aircompressor and fuel admission devices. The two main casings l and 2 arejoined together at the sectional line 44 to form a unitary structuresupported by the frame elements 4 r. eferring now to the compressorcasing, the portions 1 and 1, joined together by the bolts 5, containthe compressor barrel 3 which is shown in transverse section in Fig ure3. This barrel contains a suitable number ofcylinders 6, in this caseeight, as may be seen from Figure In each of'these cylinders is disposeda piston 7. constructed for instance in the manner shown in the upperportionhof the section, Figure 1. In each piston is disposed aconnecting rod 8, attached to the piston by means of a ball and socketjoint 9 as shown. The outer ends of connecting rods 8 are attached bymeans of ball and socket joints 10 to' a tilting block 11 which ispivotally attached at its central portion to the main shaft 12 of theturbine as will be described presently; It may be stated at this pointthat main shaft 12 is journaled in the turbine casing at 13 and 14 andalso intermediate these two ends by means of a ball bearing 15,centrally located in the nozzle plate 16 attached to casing portion 2 asshown. This nozzle plate will also be referred to hereinafter in detail.

Returning to tilting block 11, which is shown in face view in Figure 2,this block has pivotally attached to it a cross head 17 by means ofbearings 18, the cross head being in turn pivotally attached to shaft 12at the forked portion 19 of the latter by means of pivot pin 20 standingat right {in gles to the longitudinal axis of the cross head, pin 20being shown in Figure 1 in cross section. Tilting block 11 is seated ina basket 21 within which it can revolve with the aid of ball bearing 22and thrust roller bearing 23. Basket 21 in turn is seated on andsuitably attached to a slide 21, of circular curvature with pivot pin 20as a center. Slide 24 is supported against the engine casing 1 suitablyshaped to conform with the curvature of the slide, so that by means of arack 25 and pinion 26, the entire basket 21, and with it tilting block11, may be swungzon the pivotal center 20 into any suitable anglerelatively to shaft 12.

The compressor barrel 3 is keyed to shaft 12 as shown at 2T. 27 and theouter periphery of the barrel revolves in casing portions 1 and 1 with asuitable running fit in these casing portions. Thus the barrel revolveswith the shaft 1:2 and with tilting block ll. Assuming block 11 tiltedat the angle shown in Figure 1. it will be seen that, when shaft 12revolves, the pistons will reciprocate in their respective cylinders ina manner known in the art. The further block 11 is tilted from aposition at right anglesto the shaft, the longer the piston stroke willbe. Therefore, by adjusting the angularposition of block 11 relativelyto shaft 12. by means of rack and pinion 25, 26, referred to before, anysuitable piston stroke of the compressor can be obtained within thelimits of thestructure and of expediency, and thus any suitablecompression within the stroke limits may be produced.

In the top of each cylinder 6 is provided an intake port 30 and anexhaust port 31 both of which ports communicate with a valve cage 32disposed within the compressor barrel. one foreach cylinder, each valvecage being held in place by means of the threaded member 33 as mav beseen clearly in the lower portion of Figure 1. This member 33 is flushedwith the compressor barrel so that it will not hinder the rotation ofthe barrel within the casing portion 1. In the peripheral wall of theouter casing 1 are provided apertures 34- suitably spaced apart aroundthe periphery. such that each will successively register with the valvecages 32 when the barrel is revolved. Each valve cage has an intakevalve 35 and an exhaust valve 36 which valves cooperate with and controlthe intake port 30 and the exhaust port 31 respectively. The cageportion containing intake valve 35 is connected with the outsideatmosphere whenever the main valve cage 32 registers with one of thecasing apertures -t. The cage portion containing exhaust valve 36 isentirely separate from the rest of the valve cage and communicatesthrough a discharge port 37 with the fuel supply chamber 38 which hasthe form of a duct extending from the valve cage through the compressorbarrel to the nozzle plate 16, one duct 38 being provided for each valvecage. Into this chamber the air. taken in by the piston from theoutside, is compressed by the piston of the respective cylinder. Theterminals of the fuel chambers 38 at the nozzle plate may clearly beseen in Figure 4. Each chamber 38 is provided with a fuel nozzle 39suitably disposed in the compressor barrel. so that when barrel 3revolves, the outer end of each nozzle may register with the fuel supplyduct 40 which may be seen in the upper portion of Figure 1 and which isconnected to a fuel supply pipe 41 through which suitable fuel issupplied under pressure from a fuel oil pump (not shown).

lhe-operation of this portion of the turblue is as follows: As Soon asany of the pistons commences its intake stroke, it will take in air fromthe outside whenever the valve cage of its cylinder passes one ofapertures 34 in the main asing 1, and it will, in successively passingthese apertures, gradually take in air from outside until it hascompleted its intake stroke. The piston T in the lower portion of Figure1 is shown at the end of its intake stroke. \Vhen the shaft 12 furtherrevolves. this 'piston' reverses its iuovcmcut and commences to compressthe charge of air contained in its cylinder whereby the respectiveintake valve 35 automatically closes and the exhaust valve 31automatically opens. The charge of air is thus gradually compressed intothe fuel supply chamber 38 until the piston arrives in the positionshown in the upper portion of Figure 1. when the compression stroke iscompleted. In this position, shown in the upper portion of Figure 1'.the fuel supply nozzle 39 of that chamber 38 registers with fuel supplyduct 40, as shown. sothat fuel under pressure is forced into thischamber. Assumingthat the air has been compressed to a. suflicientdegreeto produce the necessary heat for igniting the fuel. the latter will beignited and combustion will start in chamber 38 which. during rotationof the barrel, of course becomes disconnected from the fuel supply duct40. On further rotation. the next cylinder has completed its compressionperiod and its fuel supply chamber 38 will now register with fuel duct40 to receive fuel and start combustion, and so on for each successivecylinder.

The. cooling of the compressorbarrel is effected by means of the waterjacket 42 extending peripherally around the barrel within the stationarycasing 1. It is connected by means of a pipe 43 with a suitable sourceof low pressure water supply. indicated in the drawings merely by asquare, labelled accordingly. The cooling water is discharged from thejacket 42 through discharge pipe 44 which conducts the cooling waterinto a high pressure water pump indicated bv a square labelledaccordingly from which the water is discharged underhigh pressurethrough pipe into-an annular chamber 46 provided in casing 1, from whicha number of radially inwardly extending ducts 47, provided in compressorbarrel 3, lead the water to axially extending ducts 48, whence it passesinto steam chest 49. 'Water ducts 48 may be plainly seen in Figure 1.They terminate in the form of water nozzles 50 in steam chest 49, sothat the water may be discharged into chest 49 in the form of a spray.The radially extending ducts 47 and the manner in which they receiveWater from annular chamber -16 may be seen clearly in Figure 3. Steamchest 49 is provided with a number of ports 51 equal to the number offuel chambers 38. their. outer terminals at nozzle plate 16being'arranged in radial alinement. with the terminal of theirrespective chamber as may be seen from Figure -t. During the operationof this compressor, and due to the combustion of the gases in fuelchambers 38, a substantial amount of heat isgenerated in the portion ofthe compressor barrel surrounding steam chest 49, so that when the wateris sprayed through nozzles 50 into the chest 19 it is converted intosteam which may escape through ports 51 as soon as the latterregisterwith corresponding ports 56in the nozzle plate 16 which will bedescribed presently.

As has been stated before, nozzle plate 16 is fixed in turbine casingportion 2. Its face View may be seen in Figure 5. As will be.

seen from this figure. this plate is provided with a number of ports 55arranged in a part of a'circle. A similar number of ports 56 areprovided in radial alinement with ports 55 in the face of plate 16 butarranged in the arc of a smaller circle. Ports 55 are disposed toregister with fuel chambers 38 of the compressor barrel when thesechambers rotate past ports and ports 56 of plate 16 are arranged toregister with ports 51 and steam chest 19 during. the rotation of thecompressor barrel. Radially alined ports 55 and 56 thus simultaneouslyregister with corresponding ports 38 and 51. Each pair of radiallyalined ports 55 and 56 constitutes the terminals of a common turbinenozzle 57. of which one is shown in Figure 1 in longitudinal section.Thus, when a fuel chamber 38, in which fuel combustion occurs. registerswith port 55 of a turbine nozzle 57, the corresponding steam port 51registers with port 56 of that turbine nozzle, so that simultaneouslycombustion gases under high pressure and steam are discharged into andmixed in turbine nozzle 57. This period of discharge occurs for eachchamber 38 audits corresponding steam port 51, while they pass throughthe arc (Figure 5) within which the ports 55 and 56 are located. Fromturbine nozzles 57, the mixture of steam and combustion gases isdischarged against the rotatingturbine buckets 58 arranged on theturbine wheel 59, the latter being suitably fixed on shaft 12 withincasing 2. From buckets 58-tl1e partly expanded gases are dischargedagainst the stationary buckets 59 and thence through the next set ofrotating buckets and so on, in a manner well known in the turbine art.The size of the different series of turbine buckets may be increasedwith increasing wheel diameter. conforming with the progress ofexpansion of the gases, as is cusis constantly forced against nozzleplate 16 with a suitable pressure. I have shown in Figure l the diameterof the turbine wheel about twice the diameter of the circlein which thecompressor cylinders are arranged. Of course the difference inperipheral speed between the turbine wheel and the compressor barrelrequires far a larger diameter of'the turbine wheel relatively to thecompressor barrel as shown. This difference in diameter has been madecomparatively small in F igiu-e l, in order to show the compressorelements in sufficiently large scale to be visible in the drawings, andI have shown the turbine wheel; about twice the diameter of thecompressor barrel in order to indicate that I fully appreciate thatthere must be a substantial difference in diameter on account of thedifference in peripheral speed between these two main elements of mynovelturbine. Of course other means known in the art for bringing aboutthis difference in speed between the two ele ments may be employed. Forthe purpose of starting the turbine, I have provided in .nozzle plate 16a number of air nozzles 65 of which one is shown in Figure 1. They maybe uniformly distributedover the circumference of the circle on whichthe first series of buckets 58 is disposed. For instance, as shown inFigure 5, five nozzles 65 may be arranged. All of these nozzles areconnected by pipes 66 to a source of compressed air (not shown) so thatwhen the air is turned on, the turbine will be started and thecompressor will beginto supply compressed air and fuel and to operate inthe manner previously described until the combustion starts in fuelchambers 38 whereby motive power is supplied to the manner describedbefore.

I claim:

1. In an internal combustion turbine, the

combination of an air compressor having compression cylinders andpistons therein to compress air to a suitable degree,,a fuel chamber foreach cylinder adapted to receive the compressed air from its cylinder,means for injecting fuel into each chamber in timed relation to the aircompression to start combustion therein, a steam chest disposed adjacentto said fuel chambers and adapted to be heated by the combustion of theturbine in fuel therein, means for spraying water into said chest togenerate steam, said chest having a number of ports equal to the numberof fuel chambers, a turbine wheel suitably connected with saidcompressor, a nozzle plate between said wheel and said compressor,havingra suitable number of nozzles operativcly connected with thebuckets of said turbine wheel, said plate having two ports for eachnozzle, one port disposed to co operate successively with the steamchest ports and the other port disposed to cooperate successively withsaid fuel chambers as the compressor rotates, to permit simultaneousentry of combustion gases and steam into each nozzle for directing amixture of gases and steam against the buckets of said turbine wheel. Iy

2. In an internal combustion turbine, means for generating combustiongases comprising a rotary cylinder compressor consisting of a casing, ashaft journalled therein, a compressor barrel mounted on said shaft andguided by said casing and having a suitable number of compressioncylinders arranged in a circle and in parallel to the compressor shaft,a piston in each cylinder having a connecting rod attached to it,acircular tilting block pivotally attached at its central portion tosaid shaft, a basket disposed in said casing to assume the desiredangular position to said shaft and adapted to guide-the periphery ofsaid tilting block, the outer ends of said connecting rods beingoperatively attached to said tilting block, means for varying theangular relation of the basket to the compressor shaft for varying thepiston strokes of said compressor, a fuel chamber for each cylinder forreceiving the air compressed in said cylinder and means for supplyingfuel to each chamber alter it has received the compressed air.

3. In an internal combustion turbine, the combination of a cylindricalcompressor casing, a shaft journalled therein, a compressor barrellixedon the shattand revolubly disposed in said cylindrical casing, saidbarrel containing a suitable number of cylinders disposed in a circleand in parallel to the compressor shaft, a piston in each cylinder, andmeans for reciprocating said pistons once for each revolution of saidbarrel, each cylinder having a valve cage containing valves and a fuelchamber, said valves permitting the piston of each cylinder to take inair from the outside and to com-press it into its fuel chamber, meansfor supplying fuel into each chamber after it has received itscompressed air charge, to cause combustion in said chamber, a steamchest in said barrel heated by the combustion of the fuel in saidchambers, means for spraying Water into said chest to generate steam,said chest, having a number of ports equal to the number of fuelchambers, a turbine Wheel suitably connected with said compressor shaft,a nozzle plate between said wheel and said barrel having a suitablenumber of nozzles operatively connected with the buckets of said turbinewhe'eL said plate having two ports for each nozzle, one portdisposed tocooperate snccessively with the steam chest ports and the other disposedto cooperate successively with said fuel chambers as the barrel rotates,to permit simultaneous entry of combustion gases and steam into eachnozzle for directing a mixture of gases and steam against the buckets ofsaid turbine Wheel.

ELLIS B. HARTMAN.

